ALBANY – Cameras that catch and ticket drivers illegally passing a school bus may soon be coming to your town.

Key lawmakers in the state Senate and Assembly have struck a deal on a bill that would allow school districts and municipalities to install cameras on their buses, with the goal of cracking down on drivers who pass stopped buses.

"We were able to come to an agreement on the (bill) language, and it's extremely strong," Kennedy said. "It's going to hold these individuals that have no regard for the law or our children's safety accountable."

Big fines for violators

New York appear poised to add cameras to school buses to crack down on drivers passing stopped buses.(Photo: Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Kennedy said the bill would allow municipalities to approve a local law allowing school-bus cameras within their limits.

From there, school boards would have to approve a resolution and contract with a company to install them on the stop arm of buses, or somewhere else on the vehicles that can easily capture license plates.

Those who illegally pass a school bus would be captured on camera and subject to a $250 fine for a first offense, $275 for a second and $300 for each one after, Kennedy said.

Municipalities would be required to erect signs notifying drivers that school-bus cameras are in effect. They would also be required to report annually to the state and local law-enforcement on how many tickets they issue.

The program would expire in five years, at which point state lawmakers would decide whether to continue it.

Last year, 850 drivers were ticketed for an illegal bus passing on a single day in April as part of Operation Safe Stop, a day when police officers were instructed to be on high alert for such infractions.

In a statement Tuesday, Cuomo said he looks forward to the bill being passed and signed into law.

"The safety of our children is paramount, and we are committed to ensuring our youngest New Yorkers make it to and from school safely and that motorists who endanger these students are held accountable for their reckless actions," he said.

The New York School Bus Contractors Association, which represents school transportation companies across the state, said the new bill will "undoubtably make riding in a yellow school bus even safer for every student in New York."

Assemblywoman Donna Lupardo, D-Endwell, Broome County, noted the current anti-passing law can only be enforced if a law-enforcement officer witnessed it.

"I’m glad we were finally able to reach an agreement on this critically important public safety measure," she said.